Traders in Witham say they are preparing to lose money due to North Bridge being shut for the rest of the week.

The busy crossing connecting Freetown Way with Holderness Road has been shut so that essential works can be carried out to resurface the decks of the bridge. It will remain closed until Sunday.

Pedestrians can still make their way across but no traffic is allowed through, and two businesses say they are already starting to notice a visible impact on trade.

Lee Sharp, who works as a chef at Dope Burger, said the closure will massively affect delivery times after the restaurant struggled to cope to get orders to houses on time the last time the bridge was closed in November 2018.

’80 minutes for a two-mile journey’

Lee Sharp of Dope Burger

The 36-year-old, who joined the Witham branch in October, said: “It affected us last time with the traffic and we were getting an enormous amount of complaints.

“We had deliveries for instance within a two-mile radius and it was taking us an hour and 20 minutes to deliver them.

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“You can still cross the bridge on foot but we get a lot of people that come for collections. We have our own car park round the corner but people are not going to want to go up to the other bridge because they will be at a standstill forever.”

‘It will affect us massively’

Work is being carried out on the bridge decks

Mr Sharp said that the closure of the bridge causes more trouble during the evening rush hour and he recalled it taking two-and-a-half hours to get from Witham to Orchard Park after completing a shift when the bridge was last shut.

However, his main concern is delivery times and the impact dwindling trade could have on the business so soon after Christmas.

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Mr Sharp said: “It will be even worse this month because it’s just after Christmas so we are generally a little quieter than average but with the bridge being down it will affect us massively.

Watch above: Workers resurface North Bridge in Hull

“Our deliveries would usually come here and go straight into town but now we are getting put on the back burner because they have got to reroute themselves to get here and, apart from Freetown Way, this is one of the busiest junctions in HU1.”

‘We weren’t told about bridge closure’

Andy Muskin, who co-owns Maple Leaf Domestic Appliances, claims he was never informed about this week’s closure and only found out that North Bridge would be shut by “going on the internet.”

“It will affect us. There is no two ways about it,” Mr Muskin said. “People get put off and won’t come in.

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“We weren’t informed about the closure. We just picked it up off the internet and it would have been nice out of courtesy to have been properly told, but we are used to it now and I remember when it was closed for nine months.

“People don’t come in and they are put off by thinking they won’t be able to park and that it will be busy but it’s actually quiet at the moment and will be this week.”

What the council says

North Bridge is closed until January 20 (Image: Richard Addison.)

Last year, essential resurfacing work was carried out on the bridge but had to be postponed until 2019, according to Hull City Council.

Councillor Anita Harrison, portfolio holder for highways, said work needed to be done on North Bridge and Sutton Road Bridge to ensure each bridge’s “longevity.” She also apologised for any disruption caused during the closure.

The closure of the bridge has caused traffic chaos in the mornings, with diversions causing longer queues than normal and EYMS buses not stopping in Witham.

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With regards to claims traders were not told about this week’s closure, a spokesman for Hull City Council said: “The repair work was well publicised prior to it starting.

"The work began at the end of last year but had to be postponed because of adverse weather conditions. Because of the specialist nature of the work, contractors were not available to complete the work until the New Year.”

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